Improvement in boiler feeders



C. H. GRIFFIN.

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No. 59,909. Patented Nov. 29.1866.

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GALEB H. GRIFFIN, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TOV HIMSELF AND W. E. RSMYTH. meer@ Patent No. 59,909, daad November 2o, 1866.

SPECIFICATION.

To ALL WIIQM IT MAY CONGERN:

Be it known'that I, CALEB GRIFFIN, of Chelsea, in the county 'of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an improved Water-Feed for Steam Boilers; and I do hereby'declare thatthe following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form'part of this specification, is a description of my invention sutlicient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. i

The object of my invention lis to produce a water-feed for steam boilers which shall be certain in its action,

economical of consumption of power and heat, and automatic in its operation. My invention is an improve-V ment in that class of apparatus in which the condensation of steam is employed for the formation of a vacuum in a chamber, so that it will be filled with water consequent upon atmospheric pressure, and fromwhich the water is forced by the pressure of steam to supply feed water to a 'steam boiler, or for any other purpose.

i My invention consists in `the arrangement of parts by which, in giving motion to the chamber, it shall be alternately brought under the steam and water supply passages, to operate in connection therewith, as will be hereinafter described, and in certain details of arrangement by which the discharge of the water from the chamber is made rapid and effective, and by which the water in the boiler is prevented from risingbeyond a fixed level.

0f the drawings illustrating. my invention- Figure 1 is a side elevation. showing one form of arrangement of an apparatus designed to raise water from a cisternor well, and

Figure 2 i`s a vertical central section taken through the chamber before alluded to, and showing tberelation of the 'steam and water passages thereunto.

Said chamber is marked a, and islformed by and' between the bore of the cylinder, b, and the heads, c 0',

on the piston-rod, d. The water-suction pipepcommunicating with awell' or cistern, isina'rked e, tlire` steamsupply pipe from the steam boiler, f, is marked g, and the pipe, which from the chamber, a, suppliesthe boiler" with water, is marked h. Above the cylinder, b, is located a s mall4 reservoir, z', provided' with a faucet at' j,`

through which it can' be filled with water preliminary to settingthe apparatusat work. From this'reservoir, into which the pipe e discharges, is an ,opening or port, k, communicating with the cylinder, b. The length of the heads, c c', the width of the openings g and lc', into the cylinder b, and the length of the stroke of the pistonrod d, are `so proportioned that when the chamber, a, is in position to receive steam from g, the passage 7c is closed by the head c; and when the chamber is in position to receive water from the passage lc, the head, c, closes the passage g. From the bottom of the chamber a, and in the same' plane with the passage g, is an opening or port, l, leading into the pipe h; and this port, l, is,'of course, opened and closed by the head, c, whenever the opening or port of the piperg is opened and closed by said head. From the steam pipe g there isa branch, m,

entering the pipe h, as near its junction with the cylinder b as possible, the function of said branch beingset forth hereafter in the description of the operation of the apparatus. There `mayalsro be seen in iig. 1 two branch-pipes, n and o, from the boiler, leading into the steam-pipe g, these branches being supplied with stopvalves, to be used as explained beyond in .the operation. Means for reciprocating the piston-rod, d, are shown in iig. 1, the shaft, p, being made to rotatefrom any convenient motor 'at the speed requiredl The operation of the apparatus is as follows: y

The chamber, a, being in the position shown at iig. 2, and the reservoir, z', being filled withlwater, and steam being raised in the boiler, one of the valves in n or o is opened, according as thewater level in the boiler ishigh or low, so as `to admit steam through the pipe, g, into the chamber a. Rotation being now given to the shaft, p

the chamber, a, filled with steam, is moved so as' to communicate with the reservoir z' through port lc, and'tln` water, descending from c', will condense the steam in a, which will then become iilledwithwater. Continued rotation of shaft p will now move the chamber aback to its first position, so as to communicate with the passages g and Z; and the water will, by its gravity, ilow through the passage Z into the pipe h, and thence into the boiler,

leaving the chamber a filled withsteam, to be again brought under port 7c, to'be again condensed and have its place supplied with water, as before described.

This condensation of steam of course leaves a vacuum to be supplied by water fromthe well, whichby atmospheric pressure, will be forced up the pipe. e intothe reservoir z', taking the place of the water which has passed into the chamber a it being observed that the conditions of the pipe e are such as itis well known must be applied wherever water is to be raised by suction, so called.

The object of the branch m, from the steam-pipe g, is to introduce steamunder pressure into the upper part of the feed-water pipe h, so as to facilitate thepassage of the water delivered from the chamber a into the boiler.

If the water in the boiler rises to -such a height as t cover the inlets into 11. and o, then, as there can be no steam supplied to the chamber a, there can be 11o vacuum formed therein, and the water supply will cease, even" though the reciprocations of the piston-rod, d, are continued but Whenever the level o f the water falls' in the boiler so as to admit steam into the vpipe g, the feeding of Water to the boiler will commence, and continue, as

beforedescribed, till`the water in the boiler cuts oil'v entrance of steam therefrom into the pipe g. Hence it is obvious that if the described apparatus is so proportioned as to size and movement as to be able to supply more water to the boiler when moving constantly than the boiler is able to evaporate, that' the water level in the boiler can never rise higher than the level of an opening from the boiler into the steam-pipe. Therefore, to keepthe water from rising beyond a given height in the boiler, it is only needed that the highest `opening from the boiler to the steam-pipe shall .be placed atvthe height of the highest admissible point at which the water may be filled Vinto the boiler. v

Many changes may be made in the arrangement of this 'apparatus not vaffecting thegist of the invention, ask

for example, the piston d might be held stationary and motion imparted to the cylinder instead; but this would 4involve the use of a exible water-suction pipe, and would otherwise complicate the matter Without cnrresponding advantages. The area of the chamber a; may be enlarged in ycapacity wiithoutgiving more travel to the pistonrod d, by simply' making each or either of the heads, e c', dishing or concave on the sides lforming the chamber boundaries. The cylinder is bored true and smooth, and the packing of the heads, ce', may be effected in any known way, such metallic packings as are used for steam-engine pistons being preferred.

It will be obvious that the only power needed for working the apparatus is that which is consumed in over- "coming the friction of the parts in moving the small distance needed to cover and uncover the ports, and that of the heat of the steam used none is lost except that escaping by radiation, the rest being returned to the boiler with the feed water. l

I claim the arrangementI of the pistons c c', chamber a, well-pipe e, steam-pipeg, port c, reservoir z', and

feed-pipe h, withreferenceto each otherand thel boilers, Kwhereby to operate as and for the purpose set forth.

Also, in connection therewith, the arrangement of the pipes n' and o, whereby to regulate the height of water in the boiler, as set forth. A l

' CALEB H. GRIFFIN. Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY, FRANCIS GoULD. 

